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Introduction

Debussy completed only one opera, but it was quickly recognised as a masterpiece and indeed one of the great 20th-century works in the form. He took a long time, however, both to discover the right subject and to compose the piece.

Debussy worked on his first substantial attempt at an opera, Rodrigue et Chimène, to a libretto by Catulle Mendès concerning the Spanish medieval warlord El Cid, between 1890 and 1893; but he gradually lost interest in its conventional plot and grand operatic manner and eventually abandoned it. By this time he had discovered the plays of the Belgian writer Maurice Maeterlinck, but even before that he had a clear idea of the kind of opera he wanted to write, as he explained in 1890 in a letter to Ernest Guiraud: ‘The ideal would be two associated dreams. No time, no place. No big scene […] Music in opera is far too predominant. Too much singing and the musical settings are too cumbersome […] My idea is of a short libretto with mobile scenes. No discussion or arguments between the characters whom I see at the mercy of life or destiny’. It is almost as if Debussy imagined Pelléas et Mélisande before he actually encountered it.

He first read it in 1892 or 1893, later (in 1902) acknowledging, ‘The drama of Pelléas which, despite its dream-like atmosphere, contains far more humanity than those so-called ‘real-life documents’, seemed to suit my intentions admirably. In it there is an evocative language whose sensitivity could be extended into music and into the orchestral backcloth’.

Maeterlinck agreed to Debussy making a musical setting of his much-admired play and the composer set to work in September 1893. It was complete (apart from the orchestration) by 1895, but the Opéra-Comique in Paris took three years to accept it.

Its eventual premiere in 1902 proved to be a landmark in French music. Playwright and composer, however, had fallen out over cuts and the question of who should create Mélisande: Maeterlinck wanted his mistress Georgette Leblanc to sing the role, but once Debussy had heard the young Scottish soprano Mary Garden he was sure he had found his protagonist. Years later, following Debussy’s death, Maeterlinck saw the opera for the first time and admitted, ‘In this affair I was entirely wrong and he was a thousand times right’.

Debussy in fact set by far the majority of Maeterlinck’s play to music, making his opera one of the first to do so: the fluidity of the result is one of its most notable features, with a general conversational style and almost no set pieces. Wagner is present in the opera both as a direct influence and in terms of Debussy’s reaction against his German predecessor: early drafts of the love duet had to be scrapped because ‘worst of all, the ghost of old Klingsor, alias R Wagner, kept appearing’; yet Debussy does use a simple system of leitmotifs and some of the orchestral fabric undeniably has a post-Wagnerian quality.

For all that, Pelléas is one of the most original and influential operas of its period. Its atmosphere is distinctive and indeed unique, a self-enclosed world where the characters often say one thing when they mean quite another. This sense of ambiguity is highlighted by Debussy’s complex and subtle harmony and his delicate use of orchestral colour throughout. Ironically, Maeterlinck’s play has largely disappeared from view—as if Debussy, in providing its precise musical equivalent, had left no need for it to continue to be performed. While we may regret that Debussy’s later operatic projects failed to reach completion, the one masterpiece we have has proved to be one of opera’s greatest achievements.

ACT IScene 1A forest (Golaud, Mélisande) Lost in the woods, Golaud—grandson of Arkël, the half-blind king of Allemonde—hears a woman weeping. She tells him her name, Mélisande, and agrees to go with him.

Scene 2A room in the castle (Arkël, Geneviève, Pelléas) In the castle Golaud’s mother Geneviève reads Arkël a letter sent by Golaud to his half-brother Pelléas describing Mélisande, whom he has married. Pelléas enters in tears: his friend Marcellus is dying and begs him to visit him. Arkël tells him to wait until Golaud’s return and the death of Pelléas’ own ailing father.

Scene 3In front of the castle (Mélisande, Geneviève, Pelléas, Chorus) Geneviève shows Mélisande the castle grounds. They encounter Pelléas, who predicts a storm. Pelléas announces that he will leave the next day. Mélisande asks him why he must go.

ACT IIScene 1A well in the park (Pelléas, Mélisande) Pelléas brings Mélisande to the well whose water once cured the blind. As she plays with the ring Golaud gave her, it falls into the well.

Scene 2A room in the castle (Golaud, Mélisande) Golaud lies wounded following a hunting accident. Noticing that the ring is missing, he demands to know where it is. She lost it, Mélisande explains, in the grotto. He insists that she go immediately to find it, taking Pelléas with her.

Scene 3In front of a grotto (Pelléas, Mélisande) When they reach the grotto, it is suddenly illuminated by the moon, revealing three beggars leaning against a rock.

ACT IIIScene 1One of the castle's towers (Mélisande, Pelléas, Golaud) Mélisande combs her hair at the top of a tower; it falls over Pelléas. Golaud enters. He asks what Pelléas is doing and upbraids them both for their childish games.

Scene 2The castle's underground passages (Golaud, Pelléas)Scene 3A terrace at the exit of the underground passages (Golaud, Pelléas) Golaud takes Pelléas down to the dungeons and shows him a chasm. Pelléas feels stifled and they leave. Arriving on the terrace, Pelléas can breathe again.

Scene 4In front of the castle (Golaud, Yniold) Golaud tries to extract information from his son Yniold about Pelléas and Mélisande: the child’s answers baffle him. He lifts the boy up to a window to spy on them. Yniold becomes frightened and Golaud releases him.

ACT IVScene 1A room in the castle (Pelléas, Mélisande) Pelléas tells Mélisande that his father, recovering, has told him to leave. He arranges to meet her at the well one final time.

Scene 2A room in the castle (Arkël, Mélisande, Golaud) Golaud arrives, looking for his sword. He starts to ask Mélisande menacing questions and descends into violence as he seizes Mélisande by her hair.

Scene 3A well in the park (Yniold, The Shepherd) In the park, Yniold fails to move a boulder to free his ball. He hears sheep bleating, and asks the shepherd why: he answers that they are not going to the stable.

Scene 4A well in the park (Pelléas, Mélisande, Golaud) Pelléas ponders what he will say to Mélisande. She enters and tells him Golaud is asleep. They have one hour before the castle gates close. Pelléas kisses Mélisande and tells her that he loves her; she reveals that she loves him too. They hear the gates closing; it is too late to re-enter. Mélisande realises that Golaud is watching them. As he moves forward, they kiss. Golaud strikes Pelléas down. Mélisande flees and Golaud follows.

ACT VScene 1A bedroom in the castle (The Doctor, Arkël, Golaud, Mélisande, servants) Mélisande, who has given birth to a daughter, lies mortally ill. She asks for the window to be opened. She scarcely recognises Golaud, who asks the others to leave. He questions her further about her relationship with Pelléas. She tells him they were not guilty. He does not believe her, begging her to tell the truth before she dies; she is surprised to learn that she is dying. When Arkël and the Doctor enter, he acknowledges that he has learned nothing. He asks Mélisande whether she wants to see her daughter. The serving women enter. Golaud demands to know why they are there and asks further questions. Arkël explains to Golaud that they must be quiet to allow Mélisande’s soul to depart. The servants fall to their knees. The Doctor confirms Mélisande’s death; Arkël announces that it is her child’s turn to live.

Recordings

Magdalena Kožená, Gerald Finley and Christian Gerhaher head up the cast in this highly anticipated new recording of Debussy’s evocative opera. It was captured in January 2016 during performances of an innovative collaboration between Rattle and Pe ...» More

(A forest. As the curtain rises Mélisande is discovered by the edge of a well. Golaud enters.)

Golaud: Will I never leave this forest? God knows how far this beast has led me. I was sure it was mortally wounded; yes, here are traces of blood. But now, it's nowhere to be seen; I seem to have lost my way, and my hounds will never find me now. I will retrace my steps. I hear weeping … Oh! Oh! What have we here beside the well? A girl weeping by the well?(He coughs.) She hasn't heard me. I can't see her face.

Geneviève: This is what he wrote to his brother Pelleas:(plainly, without any nuance) ‘One evening I found her in tears by the side of a well, in the forest where I’d lost my way. I know neither her age, nor who she is, nor where she comes from, and I daren't ask her, for she seems to have suffered a terrible misfortune. And when you ask her what happened, she bursts into tears like a child and starts sobbing (in a choking voice) so sadly and deeply that one takes fright. It's now six months since I married her, yet I know no more than the day that I found her. Meanwhile, my dear Pelléas, you whom I love more than a brother, though we are not sons of the same father, have everything ready for my return …(with suppressed emotion) I know my mother will freely forgive me. But I fear Arkel, in spite of all his goodness. But, nevertheless, if he agrees to welcome her as he would welcome his own daughter, on the third day after you get this letter, light a lantern at the top of the tower that looks over the sea. I'll see it shine from the deck of my ship, If not, I'll sail on and never return.’

Arkel: I've nothing to say. Perhaps this may seem strange to us, because we only ever see the other side of fate, I mean the other side of our fate … He has always followed my advice until now. I thought I would make him happy by sending him to ask for Princess Ursula's hand … He could not remain alone, and since the death of his wife he has been sad to be alone; this marriage would have put an end to long wars and to longstanding hatred. He would not have it so.(with serious emotion) Let it be as he wishes. I have never stood in the way of destiny. He knows his own future better than I. Perhaps nothing ever occurs without purpose.

Geneviève: He was always so prudent, so serious and so resolute. Yet since the death of his wife he has lived only for his son, little Yniold. Everything else he neglects. What can we do?

(Pelleas enters.)

Arkel: Who is it that's come in?Geneviève: It’s Pelléas. He has been weeping.

Arkel: Is that you, Pelléas? Come a little closer so that I can see you in the light.

Pelléas: Grandfather, I received at the same time as the letter from my brother another letter, a letter from my friend Marcellus … He is near death and has sent for me … He says he knows exactly the day that death will come … And he says I can be there in time to see him, if I wish; but that I have no time to lose.

Arkel: It would be a good idea to wait a little time. We don't yet know how your brother’s return may affect us. And what's more, isn't your father here, above us, sicker perhaps than your friend … Can you choose between your father and friend?

Mélisande: It is dark in the gardens. And what forests, such forests all round the castle!

Geneviève: Yes, I too was struck by that when I first came here, it astonishes everyone. There are places here where you never see the sun. But you quickly get used to it … It is now many years, very many years … it is nearly forty years that I have lived here. Look over there, on the other side, you’ll get the light from the sea.

Mélisande: I hear a sound somewhere below us.

Geneviève: Yes, that is someone coming up here … Ah, it’s Pelléas … Perhaps he is tired after waiting for you for so long.

Mélisande: He hasn’t seen us.

Geneviève: I think he has, but doesn’t know what he should do. Pelléas, Pelléas, is that you?

Pelléas: Yes! I came to the side by the sea …

Geneviève: Us too; we came here for the light. For here the light is brighter than elsewhere, and yet the sea is dark.

Pelléas: We'll have a storm tonight; there's been one every night for several days and yet the sea is very calm this evening. One could easily put out to sea without knowing and never return.

Mélisande: Yes …Pelléas: What did he say?Mélisande: Nothing. I can't remember now …Pelléas: Did he come close to you?Mélisande: Yes, he wanted to kiss me …Pelléas: You didn’t want him to?Mélisande: No.Pelléas: Why didn’t you want him to?

Mélisande: Oh! Oh! I saw something move at the bottom of the well …

Pelléas: Be careful! Do be careful! You're going to fall! What’s that you’re playing with?

Mélisande: It’s the ring he gave me.

Pelléas: Don’t play with it like that over such deep water!

Mélisande: My hands are steady …

Pelléas: It sparkles in the sun. Don’t throw it so high in the air!

Mélisande: Oh!Pelléas: It’s fallen in!Mélisande: It’s dropped in the well!Pelléas: Where is it? Where is it?Mélisande: I don’t see it sinking.Pelléas: I think I see it shine!Mélisande: My ring?Pelléas: Yes, yes, down there!

Mélisande: Oh, oh! It’s so far away! No, no, that’s not it, that’s not my ring. It's gone … lost … Only a circle remains on the water. What shall we do now?

Pelléas: You shouldn't be so distressed over a ring. It’s nothing, perhaps we’ll recover it. If not, we can find another one instead.

Mélisande: No, no, we’ll never recover it, we shan’t find another either. I thought I had it safely in my hands. I had already closed my hands, yet it fell despite that … I threw it too high, into the sun.

Pelléas: Come now, we’ll come back another day. Come, it's time to go. They’ll be coming to find us. The clock struck twelve as the ring fell …

Mélisande: What shall we tell Golaud if he asks where it is?Pelléas: The truth, the truth.

(A room in the castle. Golaud is lying on his bed; Mélisande is at the bedside.)

Golaud: Ah, ah! All is well, it’s nothing serious. But I am unable to explain how this could have happened. I was hunting quietly in the forest. Suddenly my horse bolted for no reason … Could it have seen something unusual?(increasingly animated and somewhat agitated) I’d just heard the clock strike the twelve strokes of noon. At the twelfth stroke, all of a sudden he took fright and ran like a blind fool straight into a tree!(growing calmer) I can remember no more after that. I fell, and he must have fallen on top of me; it felt as if the whole forest was on my chest. I felt sure my heart had broken in two. But my heart is not injured. I am sure it’s nothing serious …

Mélisande: Do you want some water to drink?Golaud: No thank you, I'm not thirsty.

Mélisande: Would you like another pillow? There’s a little drop of blood on this one?

Mélisande: No, no, no one has done me the slightest wrong. It’s not that.

Golaud: But are you hiding something from me? Tell me the truth, Mélisande. Is it the king? Is it my mother? Is it Pelléas?

Mélisande: No, no, it is not Pelléas. It isn’t anyone. You cannot understand me. This is something that's stronger than I …

Golaud: Come, come, let's be reasonable, Mélisande. What do you want me to do? You're no longer a child. Do you want to leave me?

Mélisande: Oh no, it’s not that. I'd like to go away with you … It’s here that I can’t live any longer … I feel that I will not live much longer …

Golaud: But there must be a reason nonetheless. People will think you foolish. They will think it is all childish dreams. Let’s see, is it Pelléas perhaps? I've not seen him speaking to you much.

Mélisande: Oh, he speaks to me sometimes. He dislikes me, I think; I can see it in his eyes … But he speaks to me whenever he sees me.

Golaud: You must not take offence at that. He has always been like that. He is a little odd. He will change, you’ll see. He is only young …

Mélisande: But it isn’t that, no it's not that …

Golaud: Then what is it? Can you not live the kind of life we lead here? Is it too desolate here? It is true that the castle is ancient and gloomy. It is very dark and cold. And those who live here are already old. And the country can seem desolate too, with all these forests, all these ancient forests without daylight. Yet one still might brighten it if one wanted. And yet contentment, contentment … It cannot be had every day. But come, tell me something, no matter what. I'll do whatever you wish …

Mélisande: Yes, it’s true. One hardly ever sees the sky here. I saw it for the first time this morning.

Golaud: Would it be that which makes you weep, my poor Mélisande? Is it just that? You weep because you never see the sky? Come on, surely you're too old to weep about a thing like that? Do you think the summer is not here? You'll see the sky every day. And then another year … Come on, give me your hand, give me both your little hands.(He takes her hands.) Oh, these little hands! I could crush them just as if they were flowers!

Golaud: Wait! Where is the ring that I gave you?Mélisande: The ring?Golaud: Yes, your wedding ring. Where is it?Mélisande: I think … I think it must have fallen off.

Golaud: Fallen off? Where did it fall? Surely you haven’t lost it.

Mélisande: No, it has fallen off, it must have fallen off. But I know where it is.

Golaud: Where is it?

Mélisande: You know the place … You know the place … the cave by the sea?

Golaud: Yes.

Mélisande: It’s there, it’s there … it must be there … Yes, yes, now I remember. I went down there this morning to gather up some seashells for little Yniold … There are some lovely ones there … It slipped from my finger … But the tide was rising, so I had to go before I was able to find it.

Golaud: Are you certain it is there?

Mélisande: Yes, yes, I am certain. I felt it slip off.

Golaud: Then you must go and find it immediately.Mélisande: Go there now? This moment? In the dark?

Golaud: Go there now! Immediately, in the dark! I would prefer to lose everything I possess rather than lose that ring. You don't know what it is. You don't know from where it came. The tide will be very high tonight. The sea will probably get to it first, hurry up!

Mélisande: I’m afraid … I’m afraid to go alone there.

Golaud: Go! Go! It doesn't matter whom you go with! So long as you go this moment, understand? Quickly! See if Pelléas will go with you.

Mélisande: Pelléas? Go with Pelléas? But Pelléas will never go …

Golaud: Pelléas will do anything you ask him. I know Pelléas better than you. But go, hurry now!(somewhat restrained and with great emphasis) I shall not sleep until I have that ring back.

Pelléas: (speaking with great agitation) Yes, this is it, we are here. It’s so dark that the entrance to the grotto is indistinguishable from the night … There are no stars to be seen in the sky. Let's wait till the moon has broken through the clouds … it will shed light far into the grotto and then we can enter safely. There are dangerous places along here and the path is very narrow, between two lakes of unfathomable depth. I didn't think to bring a torch or a lantern. But I think the light of the sky will suffice. Have you never been into this grotto before?

Mélisande: No …

Pelléas: Let’s go in … You must be able to describe the place where you lost the ring in case he should ask you. It is very large and very beautiful, and full of deep blue shadows. When you light a candle in there, it is as if the roof were covered with stars, like the sky. Give me your hand, and don't be afraid. There’s no danger at all. We’ll stop when we can no longer see the light of the sea. Is it the noise of the grotto that frightens you? Listen, can you hear the sea behind us? It seems to be unhappy tonight …

The moon throws a flood of light into the entrance and part of the grotto, and reveals three white-haired beggers sitting side by side and holding one another up as they sleep leaning against a boulder.

Pelléas: Oh, here is the light!Mélisande: Ah!Pelléas: What is it?

Mélisande: Over there … Over there!(She points to the three beggars.)

Pelléas: Yes, I see them too.Mélisande: Let’s go out! Let’s go out!

Pelléas: Those are three old beggars who have fallen asleep … There’s a famine in the land … But why should they have come here to sleep?

Mélisande: Let’s go out! Come … Let’s go out!

Pelléas: Hush, be careful, don’t speak so loudly … We must not wake them up. They are still sound asleep. Come on.

Mélisande: Let me go; I'd rather go alone.Pelléas: We’ll come back some other day …

(One of the castle's towers. A watchman’s path passes under one of the windows of the tower.)

Mélisande:(at the window, combing her unbound hair) My hair’s so long it reaches to the foot of the tower; My hair is waiting for you all the way down the tower, It waits for you all day, It waits for you all day. Saint Daniel and Saint Michael, Saint Michael and Saint Raphael, I was born on a Sunday, On a Sunday at noon.

(Pelléas enters by the path.)

Pelléas: Hola! Ho there!Mélisande: Who’s there?

Pelléas: Me, me, and me! What are you doing at the window, singing like some rare exotic bird?

Mélisande: I’m arranging my hair for the night …

Pelléas: Is that what I see there against the wall? I thought you had a light …

Mélisande: I have opened the window. It was too warm in the tower. It’s such a beautiful night.

Pelléas: There are so many stars; I’ve never seen it like tonight; but the moon is still over the sea … Don't stay in the shadows, Melisande, lean out of the tower, so I can see your hair untied.

Pelléas:(less quickly and with restrained passion) I hold it in my hands, I hold it in my mouth … I hold it in my arms, I wind it around my neck … I shall not open my hands again tonight!

Mélisande: Let go! Let go! You'll make me fall!

Pelléas: No, no, no! I've never seen hair like yours, Mélisande! Look, look, look, it comes from so high up and it falls so far it envelops my heart. It falls so low it comes to my knees! And it is soft, soft as if it had fallen from heaven! I can't see heaven any more because of your hair. Look, do you see? My two hands can't hold it all, it's even on the willow branches … It comes alive as if it were a bird in my hands, and it loves me, it loves me more than you!

Mélisande: Let go, let go! Someone might come …

Pelléas: No, no, no, I'll not give you your freedom tonight. You are my prisoner tonight, all night long, all night long …

Mélisande: Pelléas! Pelléas!

Pelléas: I'll tie your hair, I'll tie it to the willow branches. You'll never go free, you'll never go free. Look, look! I'm kissing your hair … I no longer suffer when I’m lost in your hair. Do you hear my kisses along your hair? They climb along your hair … Each strand carries kisses … You see, you see, I can open my hands … my hands are free, but you can't abandon me …

(Some doves come out of the tower and fly about them in the darkness.)

Mélisande: Oh, oh! You’ve hurt me! What is that, Pelléas? What is that flying above me?

Golaud: What are you doing here?Pelléas: What am I doing here? I was …

Golaud: What children you are … Mélisande, don’t lean so far out of the window, you might fall. Don’t you realise it’s late? It's nearly midnight. Don’t play like that in the dark. What children you are …(laughing nervously) What children, What children …

Golaud: Be careful. Follow me, come this way. Have you never been down here into these vaults?

Pelléas: Yes, yes, I have, once before, but that was long ago.

Golaud: Over there, there’s the stagnant water I told you about … Can you smell the stench of death that rises? We’ll go to the edge of that rock that leans out, then you lean over; it will come and strike you in the face. Lean over, don’t be afraid. I shall hold you, give me … No, no, not your hand, it might slip from my grasp. Your arm. Can you see the abyss? Pelléas?(disturbed) Pelléas?

Pelléas: Yes, I think I can see the very bottom of it.(with suppressed excitement) Is it the light flickering like that?(He starts, turns, and looks at Golaud.) You …

Golaud: Yes, it’s the lantern. You see, I waved it to throw light on the walls …

(A terrace at the exit of the underground passages. Golaud and Pelléas enter.)

Pelléas: Ah, at last I can breathe! I thought for a moment I was going to feel ill in those enormous caverns. I felt on the verge of collapse … The very air there is heavy and dank, like dewdrops of lead, and the darkness is dense, like a poisonous paste. And now, everywhere air, fresh from the sea! How fresh is the breeze! See, fresh as a newly opened leaf, on the small green blades.

Ah! They've just watered the flowers at the edge of the terrace, and the scent of the fresh leaves and of new-watered roses wafts up to us here. It must be near to noon, they’re already in the shadow of the tower … Yes, it is noon, I hear the bells ringing, and the children are going down to the beach to bathe … Look! There’s our mother with Mélisande at the window in the tower …

Golaud: Yes, they have taken refuge in the shade. Speaking of Mélisande, I overheard what passed between you and what was said last night. I know quite well those are childish games, but it must not happen again. She is very delicate, and she needs all the more attention now, especially since she will soon be a mother, and the slightest shock could bring a misfortune. This is not the first time I have noticed that there might be something between her and you. You are older than she is. I hope what I have said is enough … Avoid her as much as possible, but not too obviously of course, not too obviously …

Golaud: Come, let’s sit down here together, Yniold. Come sit on my knee. From here we can see everything that happens in the forest. I have seen very little of you for some time. You have deserted me too. You always stay with your dear mother. See, we are sitting just under the windows of your dear mother. She's probably saying her evening prayers at this moment … But tell me, Yniold, she's often with your uncle Pelléas, isn't she?

Yniold: Yes, yes, a lot, dear Father, whenever you’re not there.

Golaud: Ah! See, there is someone passing with a lantern in the garden! But I’m told they do not like each other … I understand that they often have quarrels, no? Is it true?

Yniold: Yes, yes, it’s true.

Golaud: Yes? Ah! ah! But what do they quarrel about?

Yniold: About the door.

Golaud: What's that? About the door? What do you mean?

Yniold: Because it mustn't be open.

Golaud: Who doesn't want it open? Come now, why do they quarrel?

Yniold: I don’t know, dear Father, about the light or something

Golaud: I wasn’t talking about the light, I was talking about the door. Don’t put your hand in your mouth like that … Come on!

Yniold: Sorry, Father! Sorry, Father! I won’t do it again.(He starts to cry.)

Golaud: A quiver and some arrows. But tell me what you know about the door.

Yniold: Will they be big arrows?

Golaud: Yes, some very long arrows. But why don’t they want the door kept open? Come on, you must answer my question. No, no, don't open your mouth to cry. I’m not angry with you. What do they talk of when they’re together?

Yniold: Pelléas and dear Mother?Golaud: Yes; what do they talk about?Yniold: Me, it’s always me.Golaud: And what do they say about you?Yniold: They say that I will be very big.

Golaud: Ah, misery of my life! I'm like a blind man looking for his gold at the bottom of the ocean! I feel like a newborn baby lost in the forest, and you … But come, Yniold, my mind was wandering. we must talk seriously now. Pelléas and your Mother, don't they ever talk about me when I’m not there?

Yniold: Yes, yes, dear Father.Golaud: Ah … and what do they say?Yniold: They say that I will grow up just as big as you.Golaud: Are you always very near to them?Yniold: Yes, yes, always, dear Father.Golaud: Do they never tell you to run away and play?

Yniold: Do they kiss sometimes, dear Father? No, no. Oh yes, Papa! Yes, once, once when it was raining …

Golaud: You say that they kissed? But how, tell me how? in what way did they kiss?

Yniold: Just like this, see, dear Father, like this.(He gives him a kiss on the mouth, laughing.) Oh! Oh! It's your beard, Father! It prickles, how it prickles! And it grows grey, Father, and your hair is too, all grey, so grey. The window under which they are sitting is lit up and the light falls upon them. Oh! Look! Mother has lit her lamp. There's a light, Father, there's a light …

Golaud: Yes, it's starting to brighten.Yniold: Let’s go in too, Father; let’s go in too …Golaud: Where do you want to go?Yniold: Where the light is, Father.

Golaud: No, no, my child; wait here a little in the darkness … You never know, you don't know as yet … I do believe Pelléas is mad.

Yniold: No, no, no, Papa, he isn’t mad, but he’s very kind.

Golaud: Would you like to see your Mother?Yniold: Yes, yes, I'd like to see her!

Golaud: Don't make a sound. I’ll lift you up to the window. It's too high for me, even though I’m so tall …(He lifts the child up.) Do not make the slightest sound. Your Mother would have a terrible fright … Do you see her? Is she in the room?

Golaud: Never mind, be quiet; I won’t do that again. Keep looking, look now, Yniold! I slipped. Speak quietly. What are they doing?

Yniold: Nothing at all, Father.

Golaud: Are they close to each other? Do they say anything?

Yniold: No, Father, they don't speak.Golaud: But what are they doing?Yniold: They're looking at the lamplight.Golaud: Both of them?Yniold: Yes, Father.Golaud: And they don't say anything?Yniold: No, Father; and they don’t shut their eyes.Golaud: Are they not coming near to each other?

Yniold: No, Father, and they never close their eyes. I’m terribly afraid!

Pelléas: Where are you going? I must speak to you this evening. Will I see you?

Mélisande: Yes.

Pelléas: I've come from my father’s bedroom. He is better. The doctor has told us he is saved … He knew who I was. He took my hand and said in that strange manner which he has had since his illness: ‘Is it you, Pelléas? Why, I have never noticed it before, but you have the grave and kindly look of one who will not live very long … You must travel, you must see the world.’ It’s strange, I shall obey him … My mother heard him speak and wept with joy. Have you not noticed it yourself? The whole house seems alive again already. One can hear breathing, people walking … Listen; I hear someone’s voice behind the door. Quick, quick, tell me quickly, where shall I see you?

Mélisande: Where would you like?

Pelléas: In the park, by the Blind Man’s Well. Will you? Will you come?

Mélisande: Yes.

Pelléas: This evening will be our last. I will go travelling just as my Father told me. You won't see me again …

Mélisande: Don’t say that, Pelléas … I shall see you always, I shall always look upon you …

Pelléas: There will be no point in looking … I’ll be so far away that you won’t be able to see me …

Mélisande: What has happened, Pelléas? I no longer understand what you say.

Arkel: Now that Pelleas’s father has recovered and now that the sickness, the faithful servant of death, has left the castle, a little happiness, and a little sunlight can finally come back into our home … Not before time! For ever since your arrival, we have lived here moving in whispers around the sick man's bedroom … And truly, I was sorry for you, Melisande. I have been watching you since you came here, you were heedless perhaps, yet with that strange distracted air of one who is always awaiting misfortune, in the sunshine, in the beautiful garden … I cannot explain … but it saddens me to see you this way, for you're too young and too beautiful to live every day and night under the air of death … But now everything will change. At my age—and it is that which, perhaps, I am most certain of, in my experience— at my age I have learnt to trust in the fidelity of destiny, and I have always seen those who are young and beautiful establish around themselves a youthful destiny, of beauty and fortune … And it's you, now, who will open the door to the new era which I foresee … Come here! what makes you stand there, without reply and without raising your eyes? I have only kissed you once so far, the day of your arrival; nevertheless old men need, sometimes, to touch with their lips a woman’s brow or a child’s cheek to trust again in the freshness of life and to delay for a moment the threat of death. Are you afraid of my old lips? How I have pitied you so, these last months …

Mélisande: Grandfather, I have not been unhappy.

Arkel: Let me look at you again like this; come closer, for a moment … One has such a need for beauty when near to death …

Golaud:(pushing her back) Don't touch me, do you hear? Get off! I wasn't talking to you. Where’s my sword? I came to look for my sword …

Mélisande: It's here, on the prayer-stool.

Golaud: Bring it to me.(to Arkel) Another peasant has been found dead from starvation, down by the sea. One would think they are all bound to die before our very eyes.(to Melisande) Well then? My sword? Why do you tremble so? I'm not going to kill you. I simply wish to examine the blade. I would not use a sword for such a purpose. Why do you look at me as if I were a beggar? I don't come to beg for any alms. Do you hope to see something in my eyes without me seeing something in yours? Do you think that I know something? Look at those great eyes …(to Arkel) You could say they were proud of their beauty.

Arkel: I see only a great innocence in them …

Golaud: A great innocence! They are greater than innocence. They are purer than the eyes of a lamb … They could give God a lesson in innocence! A great innocence! Listen: I'm so close to her that I can feel the fluttering of her eyelids as they blink. nevertheless, I am less far from the secrets of the other world than from the smallest secret of those eyes. A great innocence! More than innocence! One would think that the angels of heaven were forever celebrating a baptism there. I know them well, those eyes! I have seen them at work. Shut them! Shut them! Or I'll shut them for a long time!

Golaud: Don’t put your hand to your throat like that. I’ll tell you something very simple … I have no ulterior motive. If I had an ulterior motive, why wouldn't I say so? Ah, ah! Don't try to flee! Come here! Give me your hand! Ah, your hands are too hot … Get away! Your flesh disgusts me. Out of my sight! It is no longer a question of escape.(He seizes her by the hair.) You can follow me on your knees! Get down on your knees! Ah! Ah! Your long hair may be good for something after all. To the right, then to the left! To the left, then to the right! Absalom! Absalom! Forwards! Backwards! On the ground! On the ground now! There, you see! Now you see! already I laugh like an old man … Ha! Ha! Ha!

Arkel:(running up) Golaud!

Golaud:(suddenly becoming calm) You'll do as you wish, you see. I don't care one bit. I am too old. And yet I'm not playing the spy. I'll leave it to chance; and then … Oh, and then! Simply because it’s the custom, Simply because it’s the custom.

(A well in the park. The child Yniold is discovered attempting to move a boulder.)

Yniold: Oh, this stone’s so heavy … It’s heavier than I am … It’s heavier than anyone else. It’s heavier than anything … I see my golden ball there between that rock and this wicked stone but I'm unable to reach it … My little arm isn’t long enough, and this stone doesn’t want to be shifted … You'd think it had roots in the earth …(In the distance the bleating of sheep is heard.) Oh! Oh! I hear sheep crying … Look! The sun's setting … Here come the little sheep; they're coming … What a lot! Oh, what a lot! They’re afraid of the dark … They’re huddling together, close together! They’re crying and hurrying! Some want to head to the right … Now they're all pushing that way … But they can’t! The shepherd is throwing earth at them … Oh! Oh! They're heading this way … I’ll see them up close. What a lot there are! Now they’ve all fallen silent … Shepherd! Why don’t they talk any more?

Shepherd:(off-stage) Because this is not the way to their stable …

Yniold: Where are they going? Shepherd? Shepherd? Where are they going? He can’t hear me. They’ve gone too far away … They’re not making any noise … It isn't the way to the stable … Then where will they sleep for the night? Oh! Oh! It’s too dark … I will tell someone something of this …

Pelléas: This is our last night … our last night … Everything must end … I’ve been playing like a child around something I never thought existed … I’ve been playing in a dream around the snares of destiny … What has woken me all of a sudden? I'll flee with a cry of joy and a cry of pain, as a blind man would flee his burning house. I’ll tell her I’m going away … It is late. She’s not coming … It would be better if I left without seeing her … I must look at her more closely this time … There are things about her I can't remember … At times it seems as if it were a hundred years since I last saw her … And I have still not seen her gaze … I’ll have nothing if I leave like that … And all these memories … It's like I'm carrying some water in a bag made of muslin. I must look on her one last time to the depths of her heart … I must tell her everything I’ve never said.

Pelléas: Come here. Don’t stay on the edge of the moonlight. Come here, we have so much to say to each other … Come here, in the shadow of the lime trees.

Mélisande: Let me stay in the light …

Pelléas: Someone might see us from the tower's windows. Come here; there’s nothing to fear here. Be careful, they could see us!

Mélisande: Let them see me, then …

Pelléas: Why do you say that? Were you able to get out without being seen?

Mélisande: Yes. Your brother is sleeping …

Pelléas: It’s late: in one hour the gates will be closed. We must be careful. Why were you so late arriving?

Mélisande: Your brother had a nightmare. And then my dress got caught on a door stud. See, it's torn. I lost so much time, so I ran …

Pelléas: My poor Mélisande! I'm almost afraid to touch you … You're still out of breath, like a hunted bird … Is it for me you’ve done all this? I can hear your heart beating, as if it were my own … Come here … come closer to me …

Mélisande: Why are you smiling?

Pelléas: I am not smiling, rather I’m smiling for joy without knowing why … There's more reason to weep …

Pelléas: Yes … that was months ago. But back then I did not know … Do you know why I asked you to come this evening?

Mélisande: No.

Pelléas: It's possibly the last time I'll see you … I must go away for ever!

Mélisande: Why do you always say you’re going away?

Pelléas: Must I tell you what you know already? Don't you know what I’m going to tell you?

Mélisande: But no, I don’t. I know nothing.

Pelléas: You don't know why I must leave you? Don't you know it’s because …(He kisses her suddenly.) I love you.

Mélisande:(in a low voice) I love you too …

Pelléas: Oh! What did you say, Mélisande? I could barely hear what you said … The ice has been broken with red-hot irons! You say it in a voice that comes from the world's end! Yet, I could barely hear what you said … You love me? You love me too? How long have you loved me?

Pelléas: It's like your voice has come over the sea in the spring! I've never heard it until now. It’s as though it had rained on my heart. You say it so honestly! Like an angel answering questions … I can hardly believe it, Mélisande … Why should you love me? Why do you love me? Is it true what you say? You're not deceiving me? You're not just lying to make me smile?

Mélisande: No, I never lie; I only lie to your brother …

Pelléas: Oh! the way you say that! Your voice, your voice! It is fresher and clearer than water! It is like spring water on my lips … It is like spring water on my hands … Give me, give me your hands. Oh, your hands are so little! I didn't realise you were so beautiful! I had never seen anything so beautiful before you … I couldn't rest, I sought everywhere, throughout the house … I sought everywhere, throughout the country, but I never found the beauty I sought … And now, I've found you … I've found you … I believe there's no more beautiful a woman anywhere on earth! Where are you? I can't hear your breathing any more …

Mélisande: That’s because I'm looking at you …

Pelléas: Why do you look at me so gravely? We're already in the shadows. It’s too dark under this tree. Come, into the light. We cannot see how happy we are. Come, come; we have so little time …

Pelléas: Now we can't get back in? Do you hear the bolts? Listen! Listen! The great chains! It’s too late, now, it’s too late!

Mélisande: Oh good! So much the better!

Pelléas: You? You see, you see … It’s no longer within our power! All is lost! All is won! All is won tonight! Come! Come! My heart is beating like crazy to the back of my throat …(He takes her in his arms.) Listen! My heart is nearly choking me. Come! Ah! It's beautiful here in the shadows!

Mélisande: There is someone behind us …Pelléas: I can't see anyone.Mélisande: I’m sure I heard a noise …Pelléas: I can hear only your heart in the darkness …Mélisande: I heard crackling in the fallen leaves …

Pelléas: It's the wind that's fallen silent all of a sudden … It fell away while we were embracing.

Mélisande: See how our shadows are bigger tonight!

Pelléas: They intertwine to the bottom of the garden! Ah! See them embrace each other over there! Look! Look!

Mélisande:(in a muffled voice) Ah! He’s behind a tree!

Pelléas: Who?Mélisande: Golaud.Pelléas: Golaud? Where? I see nothing!Mélisande: There … at the end of our shadows …

Pelléas: Ah, yes, now I see him … Don’t turn around too suddenly.

Mélisande: He’s got his sword …Pelléas: I don’t have mine …Mélisande: He saw us embracing …

Pelléas: He doesn’t know that we’ve seen him … Don’t move! Don’t turn your head. He'll rush out … He’s watching us … He’s perfectly still … You go, go now, at once, this way … I’ll wait for him … I’ll stop him …

(A bedroom in the castle. Arkel, Golaud, and the doctor are discovered in a corner of the room; Mélisande is lying on the bed.)

Doctor: It would not be from such a little wound as this that she might die. It wouldn't kill so much as a bird … So it is not you that killed her, my noble lord. Don't distress yourself so … And anyway, no one has said yet that we will not save her …

Arkel: No, no, it seems that in this bedroom we are unnecessarily quiet; it's not a good sign … See how she sleeps … sluggishly, in a daze … you would think her soul were forever cold …

Golaud: I have killed without reason! Is it not pain enough to wring tears from a stone? They were embracing like children … They were brother and sister … And then, I, all of a sudden … I did it without meaning to, you see … Did it without meaning to …

Doctor: Wait a moment; I think she's waking …Mélisande: Open the window, open the window!Arkel: Do you want me to open this one, Mélisande?

Mélisande: No, no, the big one … so I can see …

Arkel: Isn't the air from the sea too cold tonight?

Doctor: Do it, open it …Mélisande: Thank you … Is that the sun setting?

Arkel: Yes, it's the sun setting over the sea. It is late. How do you feel, Mélisande?

Mélisande: Well. Well. Why do you ask me that? I've never felt better … Yet it seems that I know something now …

Arkel: What are you saying? I don’t understand …

Mélisande: I don't understand any longer what I’m saying, do you see … I don’t know what I’m saying … I don’t know what I know … I can no longer say what I want to say …

Arkel: But yes, you can … It gladdens my heart to hear you speak so. You've been a little delirious these last days, and no one understands you … but now, that has all passed!

Mélisande: I don’t know … Are we alone in the room, Grandfather?

Arkel: No, the doctor who cured you is also here.Mélisande: Ah!Arkel: And then there's another person too …Mélisande: Who is it?

Arkel: It’s … don't be frightened. He wishes you no harm, I assure you … If you’re afraid, he’ll go away … He is a most unhappy man.

Mélisande: Who is it?Arkel: It’s … it’s your husband. It’s Golaud.

Mélisande: Golaud is here? Why doesn’t he come near me?

Golaud:(dragging himself to the bed) Mélisande! Mélisande!

Mélisande: Is that you, Golaud? I can hardly recognise you any more … The evening sun is shining in my eyes … Why are you looking at the wall? You're so thin and you've aged. Is it very long since we last saw each other?

Golaud:(to Arkel and the doctor) Would you kindly leave us now for a while, my poor friends … I will leave the door wide open … Only for a moment … I would like to say something to her, without which I could not die in peace … Will you go? You may come back again in a moment … Do not refuse me this … I am an unhappy man.

Golaud:(with great emotion) Mélisande, do you pity me, as I pity you? Mélisande, do you forgive me, Mélisande?

Mélisande: Yes, yes, I forgive you … What is there to forgive?

Golaud: I’ve done you so much wrong, Mélisande … I can never express what wrong I have done you … But now I see, I see it very clearly today … From the very first day … And it is all my fault, all that has happened, all that will happen … If I could only tell you, you would see how I see it! I see it all, I see it all! But I loved you so! I loved you so! But now someone will die … It is I that will die … And I would like to know … I would like to ask you … You don't mind my asking? You must speak the truth to one who will die … He must know the truth, Without it he could never sleep in peace … Do you swear to tell me the truth?

Mélisande: Yes.Golaud: Did you love Pelléas?Mélisande: Why yes, I loved him. Where is he?

Golaud: You don't understand me Don’t you want to understand me? It seems … what I feel is … Well then, it's this. I ask you if you loved him with a forbidden love? Did you? Were you guilty? Tell me, tell me! Yes, yes, yes?

Mélisande: Why should I not have told the truth?Golaud: Don't lie to me so, at the moment of death!Mélisande: Who is going to die? Is it me?

Golaud: You, you, and me, me as well, after you. And we must have the truth … We need the truth now, do you hear? Tell me all! Tell me everything! I forgive you everything!

Mélisande: Why am I going to die? I did not know I was.

Golaud: You know it now … It's time! Quickly! Quickly! The truth! Tell me the truth!

Mélisande: The truth … tell the truth …

Golaud: Are you there? Mélisande? Are you there? It’s not normal, this! Mélisande! Are you there?(catching sight of Arkel and the doctor at the door) Yes, yes, you may come in … I know nothing, it is useless … she's too far gone … I'll never know! I'll die here like a blind man!

Golaud: I have killed her already …Arkel: Mélisande!Mélisande: Is that you, Grandfather?

Arkel: Yes, my daughter. What can I do for you?

Mélisande: Is it true that the winter’s coming?Arkel: Why do you ask such a thing?

Mélisande: Because it’s cold now and there are no leaves left …

Arkel: Are you cold? Would you like the windows shut?

Mélisande: No, not until the sun goes down to the depths of the sea. It’s setting so slowly; the winter must already be with us.

Arkel: Do you not like the winter?

Mélisande: Oh no! I’m frightened of the cold! I’m so scared of the cold weather …

Arkel: Do you feel better now?Mélisande: Yes, yes. I no longer have any worries.Arkël: Would you like to see your child?Mélisande: What child?Arkel: Your own child. Your little daughter …Mélisande: Where is she?Arkel: She’s here.

Mélisande: How strange! I can't lift my arms to take her …

Arkel: That is because you are very weak still. I will hold her myself. Look at her!

Mélisande: She does not smile. She is so tiny. She is going to cry as well. I’m sorry for her.

Arkel: Wait … Quiet … We ought to speak quietly, now. She mustn't be disturbed … The human soul is very silent … The human soul loves to go alone … See how timidly she suffers. But the sadness, Golaud … But the sadness of everything we’ve seen! Oh! Oh!

(At this moment all the servants fall on their knees at the back of the room.)

Arkel:(turning round) What is this?

Doctor:(approaching the bed and touching the body) They are right …

Arkel: I saw nothing. Are you sure?Doctor: Yes, yes.

Arkel: I heard nothing at all … So quickly, so quickly … Gone without saying a word more!

(Golaud starts sobbing.)

Arkel: Don’t stay here, Golaud … It is silence she needs now … Come out now, come now … It is dreadful, but it's not your fault … She was so small and tranquil a being, so shy and so silent … She was a sad, mysterious little thing, as indeed we all are … There she lies as though she were the elder sister of her child … Come away! The child must not remain here in this room … It must live on, now, in her place. It’s the turn of her poor little daughter …